Seeing Red
by sparklebrainx
Summary: You come to love not by finding the perfect person, but by learning to see an imperfect person, perfectly.
1. Chapter 1

A rumble from the female's stomach echoed through the room. Sure, she was hungry, but she was too damn nervous to eat. Never in her life had she been this nervous - so nervous that she'd shown up to the arena two hours before anyone else. Well, if that wasn't dedication, she didn't know what was. Really, she needed the time alone to prepare for seeing everyone again. The Divas had no idea she'd be here, and were completely unaware that she'd signed a new contract. She wondered if the Bella's had any idea, either.

It was no secret that Maria Kanellis and the Bella Twins weren't on the best of terms. In her opinion, it was all in the past and she was willing to let bygones be bygones, something she'd admitted to on Twitter - in a message directed to the twins. But, she didn't know if they would want to accept her as the newest returning Diva to the roster, or if they would do everything they could to get rid of her. Maria didn't think they'd be that spiteful, though. If anything, they would most likely keep their distance from her. After all they were all adults, and if they had issues with one another, they could easily put them aside for the sake of their jobs, right? She hoped so. She'd seen all the fallout on Total Divas, and knew these girls could get pretty crazy when they were riled up. Maria didn't need to be the butt of any jokes right now.

She was still wondering if this was the best idea for her career. She'd been doing well with her career in Ring of Honor - as the First Lady she'd been starting a massive craze for ladies to get into that company. It was becoming a really massive thing with the fans, ROH was becoming as big as WWE, almost, and everybody wanted to see what was going on there. So, why leave? Maria couldn't stay in Ring of Honor any longer. It had just been released on the internet that herself and Mike Bennett had split. They'd been having issues, but had gone through with the wedding. It wasn't long after that they filed for a divorce, and went their separate ways. But, given that Maria was still a part of the same faction as Mike, the two continued to work together - despite their obvious personal differences.

However, it became too difficult for her. Maria asked for her release from Ring of Honor, and the second WWE got word of her leaving, they were very quick to call her up and offer her a contract to start over in WWE. Well, she had become one of the most improved women in the independent circuit, having held championships, gotten better in the ring, and she'd started doing some pretty decent promos as well. They wanted her back, and she was happy to sign up.

That was until now, when she was questioning every single decision she'd made since the divorce.

Maria didn't get much longer to worry over the decisions she'd made, because the door swung open and in walked Natalya Neidhart. "Oh, sorry, I didn't see-" The blonde apologized, as she'd somewhat stormed into the room and nearly knocked Maria's bags over. The redhead was too busy smiling at the former champion to give a damn about her luggage. "Maria?!" Natalya exclaimed, smiling just as brightly as Maria.

Almost instantly, Maria got up, and closed the space between the two ladies, embracing her old friend in a massive hug. "Oh, Nattie." She grinned, squeezing the shorter woman a little bit. All of her worries washed away the second she saw her old friend. The two of them hadn't always worked together, but Maria always looked up to Nattie, and considered her a really good friend, one of the closest she had in this locker-room.

"What are you doing here?" The blonde asked, as the two females stepped apart, only a few feet away from one another.

"Well, I'm back." Maria shrugged a little, though her expression was just as bright and happy as it had been moments ago.

"You're back? As in... you've signed again?" When Maria nodded to this next question, Natalya released a noise of pure excitement, and the two girls hugged again. That was when the door swung open again, and Layla walked into the room.

The next hour or so was filled with Maria and several Divas she'd worked with in the past all getting giddy over her new contract and the fact that she was back. But, when Layla asked about the rumors regarding Maria's marriage, she went somewhat quiet, and nodded her head, silently confirming that she and Mike were now divorced and well, barely even spoke anymore.

"Oh, sweetie. I'm so sorry." Layla exclaimed, reaching out for Maria's hand.

"Don't apologise. We've been divorced a while now, and it's alright. We weren't working very well before the wedding either. But, we both thought that if we went through with it, we'd be okay, because we were married. Silly, I know." She shook her head, laughing lightly at the memory of it.

The girls all attempted to comfort Maria, despite her insisting that she didn't need comforting. If anything, she wanted to celebrate that she was here, she was back, and she was gonna come in all guns blazing. She was just wondering where within the Divas Division she'd be placed. The Divas had recently all been split into teams, and Maria didn't think she'd fit with any of them. Naomi, Tamina and Sasha Banks were Team BAD, Nikki, Brie and Alicia Fox were Team Bella, and Paige, Charlotte and Becky Lynch had gained the name Team Powerpuff Girls from the fans, which was honestly a very adorable name for them. She knew it wasn't the name they were using, but Maria thought they should. It seemed suiting.

The girls stopped talking when the door opened again, and the Bella Twins walked into the locker-room. Maria parted herself from the other Divas, and stood upright, wanting to face both of them properly. Whether they'd agree to get along, or tell her to go fuck herself, she would be looking them in the eye and taking whatever may come like a woman.

"We heard you were here." Brie started the conversation, which didn't surprise Maria too much. The beef had truly been with Nikki, rather than her sister, but of course Brie would stand up for her sister - just like Maria would have for her sister as well. "We wanted to speak to you. Alone." Brie's eyes glanced to the other Divas, who then nodded and took the time to leave the room, after letting Maria know they'd catch up later on.

Maria stayed quiet, knowing that there was more to be said from the twins - besides, she could wait her turn to say what she needed to.

"We know that you're going to be here for a while." Nikki perked up, "And we don't want any trouble. So, we're willing to put everything behind us. _I'm_ willing to put everything behind us."

The redhead nodded, and parted her lips for a moment. "Thank you. I know we've not exactly gotten along well, but I figure if we're all here, we might as well try to. I'm not saying we should be best friends. I'd just like for us to be able to work alongside each other in a civil way, at least."

"I'm sure we can all do that." Brie agreed, while Nikki nodded her head. "We're actually quite interested to see what you're going to be doing."

Maria appreciated that comment from Brie, mostly because she didn't expect either of them to show any interest in her. The two of them were at the top of the division - they were the 'it' girls. So, for them to show interest in her was really something.

Before Maria could thank the girls for speaking to her, a crew member peeked his head in and caught Maria's eye. "Mark's looking for you. Said he needs to speak to you." He said, before ducking out again.

The redhead exhaled softly, and nodded. "I guess you'll know sooner rather than later." She said, a small smile on her face as she turned around and grabbed her phone from the seat behind her. She then turned back towards the girls, "Thank you. It means a lot that you're willing to get along." She said, before raising a hand to signal a goodbye, and then disappearing out of the locker-room door to find Mark.

* * *

"That sounds amazing, Mark. But, how would you go about putting me into the Authority?" She asked, sitting with her legs crossed in front of her opposite Mark, as he explained that she would be making her return to WWE as a member of the Authority - the most dominating group WWE had seen since the Corporation. It was quite a big deal, and it meant that she would be able to bring out her heel side within the WWE for a change.

WWE fans had only ever seen Maria as the ditzy, bubbly babyface. When she went to Ring of Honor, she became the heel, and she was damn good at it. So, now to be able to show off that heel side within her, here in WWE, it was a dream come true. She wanted to be taken seriously by WWE fans and by WWE talent, and she knew that if she were able to show off the heel inside of her, she would definitely get the respect here that she was getting from Ring of Honor. The only question was how she'd be able to weasel her way into the Authority. They weren't exactly hiring.

"Well, we're going to have you come in as Kane's assistant. He's the Director of Operations, and since he's having so many issues with Rollins right now, he'll need someone to handle the lesser matches and stuff on the shows. So, that's where you'll come in. You'll handle the Divas matches and probably the tag matches as well. Kane will have control over the main events, and the other champions. You'll be working a lot alongside Kane, too. So, you'll probably want to get on good terms with him." He explained, much to Maria's amazement. She'd never really gotten the chance to work with Kane in the past, or Glenn, as he was known to a lot of people backstage. She knew him when she was around a few years ago, but she didn't know him on the level she'd like to for this storyline. So, she figured she'd have to find him and get to know him on a better level.

"Thank you so much for this, Mark. Trust me, I won't let you down." She grinned, as the two of them shook hands and Mark hurried off to deal with some more issues going on backstage - that or to appear on Total Divas as a bit of an ass. Either way, Maria was simply grateful she'd been dealt such a damn good hand. She was excited about working with Kane, and simply needed to find him before the night was over, just to arrange some time for them to get together and talk about how things would work with them.

She wandered the arena for what felt like hours, and began wondering if she wasn't finding Kane because he was in the ring. She stopped by one of the monitors to see who was in the ring at the moment, and exhaled somewhat disappointedly as she spotted the New Day shooting a promo about the Prime Time Players, who'd taken their championships not too long ago. Turning on her heel, the redhead decided she'd have to find him somewhere. Maybe Stephanie would know where he was.

Making her way through the arena, she finally found the area where Stephanie and Hunter did their Authority promos, and as she was turning the corner to the right office she came face-first with a suit-clad chest. "Oof-" She exclaimed, as she stumbled backwards a little bit, blinking to regain her sight.

"Damn it, are you alright?"

Looking up, Maria realized she'd found the seven-foot man she'd been looking for all night. A smile etched across her face as she nodded her head. "I have been looking for you all night long."


	2. Chapter 2

The look on Kane's face was one of bewilderment, and honestly, Maria found a little bit of enjoyment in that. But, she knew that once she'd explained everything, he'd be willing to sit down and chat with her. Despite his looming presence and intimidating reputation in the WWE, he was one of the veterans in this business, and in that manner, he was also a professional. So, Maria knew in her heart that he wasn't going to brush her off or get upset over being aligned with her. After all, her time in the independent scene had proven that she was a wrestler, she was a professional athlete, and she was always willing to do whatever she needed to in order to improve the show itself. So, whether she was being booed, or being cheered, Maria was just happy to be a part of the wrestling world.

"Don't look so scared. You're the Big Red Monster, not me." She grinned, trying to create a bit of calmness between them, before leading up to the actual conversation she was intending to have with him.

"I'm just surprised. I didn't even know you were back, and all of a sudden you need to speak to me? Threw me off guard, is all." He explained, as he shut the locker-room door behind him and stepped into the hallway, keeping his attention upon her. "So, what do you need?"

"Well, I just spoke to Mark and he wants me in the Authority." She said, as Kane raised his eyebrows, contemplating this statement. "As your assistant." She finished the sentence and he nodded his head, taking a moment to think it all through.

"Okay, we're going to have to sit down and talk this all over. Are you busy tonight?" He asked, while Maria shook her head. "I'll grab my stuff and we can go grab some food, talk about everything."

Maria nodded her head, and stepped into the women's locker-room, while Kane disappeared into the men's. They both gathered their things, saying goodbye to those in their respective locker-rooms, before meeting again in the hallway. He gestured for Maria to follow him towards the large exit doors that lead to the parking lot, where he'd left his rental car.

"I can drive us. I assume you're in the same hotel as most of us?" He asked, and she again nodded her head, before walking towards the doors alongside him, adjusting her bag on her shoulder. The two of them made their way to Kane's car, and as he opened up the trunk for their bags, Maria smiled graciously and placed her things into the trunk. Soon enough, they were both in the car, and he was preparing to leave the parking lot.

"So, what brought you back? I didn't think you'd want to leave Ring of Honor, since your husband's there and all." He said, not knowing about the divorce, of course. Kane never really was one to pry into people's details on social media, or listen to the gossip going on in the backstage area.

"Oh, well... we aren't married anymore. I didn't want to work with him anymore after that, it was too hard." She said, going a little quiet as she spoke, looking down into her lap. At that point, Kane went somewhat quiet as well. Obviously feeling bad for mentioning something so difficult for her.

"I'm sorry, I had no idea." He said, as he drove onto the main road beside the arena, headed in the direction of the hotel.

"How could you? Unless you're sat talking with the girls, or reading through Twitter and dirtsheets, you wouldn't have known. And I highly doubt you're the kind to do those things." She said, a small laugh following her words as she tried to lighten the situation.

"No, not exactly. The girls don't talk to me much. I guess I'm scary out of the ring as well." He chuckled, and she shook her head, smiling again as she looked forwards out of the front window of the rental car.

"You're not all that scary." She said, as they approached a red light, and pulled to a hault. "Compared to some of those girls, you're practically a kitten."

At that, Kane laughed and looked over at her, his eyebrows raised slightly. "Thanks for that. I'm sure that'll look great when I next come out."

She nodded, laughing, too. "And his opponent, The Big Red Kitten, Kane!" She exclaimed, as the two of them carried on laughing together, while he drove forwards at the green light, turning around the corner, now able to see the hotel down the street from them. Thankfully, it was very close to the arena.

Within a matter of minutes, the pair of them were parking by the hotel and had agreed to both split off to their separate rooms to leave their things and freshen up, before then meeting at the bar downstairs - which did serve food. It just seemed easier than having to find somewhere else to eat, and most likely be bothered by fans who'd been at the show earlier tonight. Maria wanted to keep her return alongside Kane to be a bit more secretive than that, and if they stayed in the hotel, it'd be a lot easier to keep it quiet.

In her room, the redhead changed into a more comfortable outfit - though still looking good, and adjusted her hair slightly, before she headed down to the hotel's bar, and took a seat at the bar on one of the stools. Kane hadn't arrived yet, so she ordered herself a beer and sipped, scrolling through her Twitter feed whilst awaiting the man to arrive.

On Twitter, most people were already discussing the split of Maria and Mike, and she sighed heavily. It was almost as if she would never escape this, just like what had happened when she and Punk split up. She was still getting messages from fans telling her that they should have been together, that AJ was second best in comparison, and she found it all ridiculous. She and Punk were on good terms, despite their split, and she was genuinely happy for him and his new wife - they suited one another and were a great couple. She found all of these fans' opinions ridiculous, and often wished her private life could stay private.

Soon enough, Kane arrived and Maria slipped her phone into her jeans' pocket, turning on the stool to greet him. "I didn't know what you drink, sorry." She said, holding up her bottle of Corona, and pulling a somewhat sheepish facial expression.

He shook his head and smiled. "It's okay, I'll probably just get water. You wanna grab a table and I'll get some menus." He suggested, pointing to the cluster of empty tables on the other side of the room. She agreed, before wandering off and selecting one beside the wall, with a rather beautiful painting hanging above it. She was busy admiring it when Kane walked back over with two menus.

"You like art?" He asked, as he slipped into the chair opposite Maria.

"I'm not well informed on it, but I can appreciate something beautiful." She said, a small smile on her face as she took one of the menus from him.

"Exactly what I was just thinking." He said, before his eyes fell down to the menu, and Maria felt her face go hot briefly, before she looked at the list of meal options as well, choosing not to respond to that statement. She didn't need to embarrass herself, after all.

As the night went on, the two got to know one another a little better - discussing their fitness plans and food preferences over dinner. Movies came into it, and they found they had similar taste in that area. Not much was said about the storyline, but as they finished their meals and agreed to stay for another drink, Maria decided to bring the conversation around to their upcoming segments together.

"So, basically, Maria's going to be Kane's assistant. It'll be starting next week on RAW, where Stephanie and Hunter will officially announce me, and you're not gonna be happy about it. You know, Kane doesn't need help, all of that. But, I won't be taking over your role. I'll handle the Divas and the tag team division for a while. You'll still have the main event stuff, the championship matches, and of course, your beef with Rollins." She grinned as she said that last part.

"I'm starting to get bored of him, really. He's a great talent, no doubt about it. But his issues with social media and that girlfriend of his, I don't know how much longer they can look the other way." He said with a small shrug, before then bringing the conversation back to topic once more. "All sounds pretty good to me. So, there'll be some tension between us, I guess. It'll be fun, I don't get to work with you ladies very often. If I do, it's usually pretty stalker-y."

At that, Maria laughed a little, and nodded her head. "Kelly said you were pretty intense. I think she was genuinely scared for a while." The redhead shook her head, taking a sip of her water, and leaning back in her chair.

"So, are we eventually meant to be getting along and playing house?" He asked, raising his eyebrows.

"I don't know. I know for now, we're not friendly. I'm gonna be pretty determined, angry that you won't take me seriously, and you'll basically see me as a joke. That'll go on for a while, until eventually I make a decision that you are impressed with. Maybe when you have a night off, I'll do something with the champion, and show you how capable I am." She grinned, shrugging her shoulders again.

"Like take it off Rollins?" Kane chuckled a little, while Maria pulled an expression to show that could happen. Of course, she couldn't do any of that without Stephanie's permission, so she'd stay within her ranks and handle the Divas division. She was happy to be able to do this, hopefully she could give the girls more than one five minute match per show.

"I'm thinking about having a meeting with Stephanie about the Divas. I want to help them out, give them longer matches and more air time. They deserve it after all. There's girls here who are veterans and getting so little time. Natalya, for example, just playing valet for her husband and Cesaro. She deserves a lot more than that." She explained, as Kane nodded his head.

"You could have some real influence, I think the girls will be impressed." He said, taking a sip of his water.

After around thirty minutes of discussing their storyline, and getting everything planned out for the following week on RAW, the two of them paid their bill, and rose from the table. Kane, being a gentleman, offered to walk Maria to her room, to which she accepted. She hadn't expected to get along with him so well tonight, but she knew better than to judge a book by it's cover. As the two stood in the elevator, as the numbers above the door grew higher, Maria stole a glance in his direction, to find he was doing the same to her, and shot him a small smile, which was returned.

He does have a lovely smile, she thought.

Soon enough, they arrived at Maria's floor, and Kane stepped aside, allowing Maria to lead the way to her room. She fumbled in her pocket for her room key, and finally stopped outside of her hotel room. She turned to Kane, and smiled softly.

"I've had a really nice time with you. I'm glad we get to work together." She said, leaning against the doorframe of the hotel room's door.

"Me too. Hopefully, we can make this a really interesting storyline. If you like, we could start carpooling together, to plan things easier." He suggested, and Maria agreed by nodding her head. "Anyway, I should get to my room. I have a signing in the morning."

"Yeah, I've got a meeting with Stephanie, and I promised Layla we'd get lunch." She said, smiling as she then looked at her door, feeling somewhat awkward. Should she hug him? Shake his hand? She had no idea how to end this little meeting.

"Well, I'll see you around sometime soon. Good luck with Stephanie tomorrow." He said, giving her a nod, before then stepping aside and walking past her, towards his own room. Maria waved as he passed her, and then turned to her own door, opening it and stepping inside.

Once the door was shut behind her, Maria stopped and thought for a moment. Why had she felt so awkward? It wasn't a date, after all.


End file.
